Nile Journey,No. 15 1890

Editor: This is Elihu Vedder's "Nile Journey, No. 15," made with pencil and graphite in 1890. The first thing that strikes me is its quiet mood, the soft colors… almost dreamlike. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Well, it certainly whispers rather than shouts, doesn’t it? Vedder had a way of capturing light and atmosphere that feels incredibly personal. I like how the solidity of that wall in the foreground sort of frames the expansive, almost hazy landscape beyond. He gives us a glimpse, a fleeting impression, and leaves us to fill in the blanks. It makes me wonder what was going through his mind at that moment? Do you feel a sense of distance, perhaps a touch of melancholy? Editor: Definitely distance. Maybe a sense of being an observer, separated from the scene? The wall is like a barrier… or a portal. I am curious about the stylistic choices in the work. It's called a drawing, but the softness feels similar to impressionism? Curator: Precisely! It straddles that line, doesn’t it? He’s less concerned with precise detail and more interested in conveying the feeling of the place. Notice how he uses layering and subtle tonal variations with his graphite? It's as if he’s trying to capture the very air itself. Now, the Orientalist bent in Vedder certainly is food for thought. Considering he was an American artist traveling through Egypt...do you get a sense that it's exploitative, reverential, or maybe a bit of both? Editor: That's a great question, one I don't think I have an answer to yet... it is quite beautiful. Maybe that's what Orientalism is - a Western view of beauty... But also this may come from a human desire for discovery. Curator: I’m so glad this work got us to explore those lines together. Perhaps Vedder was also seeking to express how foreign landscapes resonate within ourselves and how his own identity played into it all. Editor: Right. It's far more complex than just a pretty picture. Thanks, I am learning to look more analytically!